Snakes and Sand
by Random Dispatcher
Summary: Gaara of the Sand needs a friend and the Dursley's have just given baby Harry away. It's a NarutoHarry Potter Crossover with a GaaraHarry pairing! Slash!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: So I know I'm supposed to be working on Pet, but the lovely __Valkyrie Nienna Helyanwe set a rather precocious plot ferret on me! It's a Naruto/Harry Potter cross with a Gaara/Harry ship at her request (I'm giving you this pairing 'cause it's pretty obvious even from this short chapter). So let me know what you think – and I'll keep plugging away at Pet. The first chapter is done and I'm thinking of posting it just to see if it'll motivate me a bit more…_

**Chapter 1**

"A companion, Yashamaru?"

"Yes, my Lord. Gaara is lonely and I believe it is this loneliness that is causing his fits of temper."

"So I should spoil him? Reward him for injuring the people he was created to protect?"

"I believe it to be a subconscious anger Lord Kazekage – the demon leaking out when the boy is aggravated. I believe a companion will help close the only weakness in Shukaku's cage."

"And how should I go about procuring one? The chances are high that Gaara will kill the child in another fit of anger. The people are already afraid of him… another death would have Suna tearing itself apart from the inside. It would be rebellion."

"A child from outside the village then… and an orphan. If the child is killed no one will ask any questions. It will never leave the compound. Gaara himself has only gone into the village twice and he won't be returning there anytime soon."

The Kazekage of Sunagakure was silent as he pondered his brother-in-law's words.

"Do you have contacts that could obtain such an item Yashamaru?"

"Yes my Lord."

"Then see to it. But this little experiment is fully in your hands. You are responsible for the cleanup. If it fails, then the Council's recommendation will be implemented."

Yashamaru bowed his head in acknowledgement of his leader's words and quickly left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I've a surprise for you Gaara."

The five year old redhead barely heard his Uncle's words, focused as he was by the small figure sitting in the floor not ten feet away from him.

"Gaara, are you listening to me? Gaara!"

Gaara turned quickly, surprised by his Uncle's tone – the man had never raised his voice to him, not even when –

"As I was saying Gaara, I have a surprise for you, a companion. A friend."

"A friend?"

"Yes Gaara. I know you have been wanting a playmate for a long time so your Father and I brought this boy here just for you. He will live here from now on."

"Really?"

Yashamaru knelt on the floor next to him, the man's serious expression stifling the joy building in the red-head's chest.

"Now this is very important Gaara. This boy is your responsibility. You have to make sure he is fed, clothed and bathed. Alright?"

Gaara nodded.

"If he gets sick or hurt you must make sure to get me so I can make him better."

Another nod.

"This is the most important thing Gaara. This boy does not know about what happened in the park. He doesn't know that the villagers are afraid. If what happened there happens with this boy then he'll be gone and you won't be able to get another playmate – ever. You only get one chance at this. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Uncle."

"Tell me."

"The boy is mine to take care of – to feed, clothe, wash and keep healthy. If I… I… If I kill him then he'll be dead and I won't have another friend."

His Uncle patted his shoulder while Gaara blinked away his tears. Shinobi didn't cry – and he had a mission now.

"Very good Gaara."

Gaara glanced at the boy sitting so still in the floor, "What is his name Uncle?"

Yashamaru chuckled, "I don't know. He doesn't speak our language."

"Truly?"

"Truly. Perhaps you should give him a name."

Just then the boy lifted his face revealing large frightened green eyes.

"Ruri," Gaara whispered, entranced by those eyes.

"Emerald," Yashamaru mused. "Fitting I suppose, even if it is a girl's name."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: So many reviews! I've never gotten so many for the first two chapters before! It's so awesome! Thank you guys so much! I hope this doesn't disappoint! For those of you not familiar with the Naruto-verse - Don't Worry! I'm planning for the next chapter to be from Harry's POV and it will (hopefully) explain a few things!_

**Chapter 3**

Yashamaru looked upon the scene before him with equal parts pride, awe and bewilderment.

In the week since Ruri's arrival, the boy had made great strides in learning Japanese. Currently the boy was reading aloud from a primer scroll – a story about a boy and a mischievous tanuki. That Ruri was able to read any of it was the source of pride, but his nephew Gaara was definitely the source of bewilderment and the two together filled him with awe.

Gaara lay in the floor with his head in Ruri's lap – asleep. Ruri was running his fingers through the boy's red hair while he stumbled through his reading excercise just loud enough for Yashamaru to hear but not disturb Gaara.

Gaara didn't just fall asleep – in fact the boy hadn't had a full eight hours of sleep since he was a toddler. The Kazekage was unconcerned by the growing insomnia but Yashamaru knew it was taking its toll on the red head.

The Kazekage's bloodline was volatile at the best of times – Gaara's older brother and sister were proof of that particular trait but the red head's anger was like a living thing, awoken by his sleep deprived frustration and empowered by the demon trapped inside him.

Shukaku made sleep a trial for the boy and it wasn't until he learned to talk that Yashamaru learned why. It had started as simple nightmares – nightmares of Gaara slaughtering his entire family with his bare hands.

Then had come the… disturbances.

Things would begin to move while Gaara slept; toys floating in the air, doors opening and closing, furniture toppling over. The longer Gaara slept, the more violent things became. If he slept too long the occurrences became particularly vicious – an invisible force that seemed intent on harming anyone close enough to reach.

The occurrences were why Gaara now had a wing of his own to sleep in. There wasn't a soul within a thousand feet of his bedchamber and Gaara had learned quickly to sleep lightly and briefly.

Then, too, was the physical impact of his nephew's sleep deprivation. He was a growing boy but was getting barely half the sleep a normal child did and so his growth was now stunted. While the other village children were hitting growth spurts and sprouting up like weeds, Gaara stayed short with a deceptively delicate looking physique. If it weren't for his face you could mistake him for a girl.

At least that was what Yashamaru had thought until Ruri had arrived. Ruri made Gaara seem positively manly – for a five year old.

A slight, nearly imperceptible sound to his left and Yashamaru interrupted the reading session.

"I have a few things to take care of before dinner Ruri – finish the scroll and then begin on your math."

The brunette bowed his head, "Yes Yashamaru-sensei."

Yashamaru left the boys and quickly joined the Kazekage in the tiny observation room next door. It was small enough to have been a closet except for the large two-way mirror.

Gaara's father watched the boys with an expression Yashamaru could not decipher.

"How goes it?"

"You received my report?"

"Of course – very thorough as always. I merely wished to see the wonders the child has wrought for myself."

"Yes, My Lord."

"You didn't, however, mention this," he nodded at the sleeping Gaara.

"A new development, Sir. Today is the first I've seen of it."

"Ah."

The two watched as Ruri completed his reading and then unwound the scroll with his math work.

"Obedient little thing, isn't he."

It wasn't a question and Yashamaru didn't reply.

"In your report you stated that Gaara seems very happy with the current arrangement. What of the other boy, Ruri?"

"It is difficult to say Lord Kazekage. When he doesn't know I am there he seems happy, if a little cautious. When I am in the room he is docile and obedient."

The Kazekage waited, knowing the other man wasn't finished.

"He watches me. Watches like a wild animal or even another shinobi would. It's like he's calculating every nuance of the situation in that tiny head of his."

"This bothers you."

"I think he realizes that I do not care for Gaara the way an Uncle should – the way family should."

The Kazekage turned to him with a cold expression on his face, "I think you are allowing you own inner turmoil about Gaara and your sister's fate to interfere with your work. Get yourself together Yashamaru or I'll have another take over this project. You have done well so far, better than anyone could have expected with such a task. Do not ruin it now."

"Karura knew her fate and if necessary Gaara will share it. We are all responsibility for the safety and survival of this village. That is our ultimate goal. Keep that in mind Yashamaru."

The Kazekage left and Yashamaru stared at the boys before him, remembering his beloved sister.

"It may have been her fate," he whispered to himself, "but it wasn't her choice."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Here it is folks – chapter 4. Sorry it took so long – I've actually had this written for about 2 weeks but the computer was dismantled and I was too lazy to shuffle my room back around to reassemble it – Plus I kept writing chapter for this (I'm up to 7!) but I kept changing the order! Like Chapter 5 became chapter 6 and it may actually become chapter 7 before it gets posted! ARGH! Anyway, thanks for all the reviews – they've been so wonderful! Hope you enjoy this (and yes they will get longer – those of you who've read my other stuff know they start off short and get progressively longer!)._

**Chapter 4**

It had been Harry's birthday when the man had come – a young man with slicked back black hair and flashing black eyes, all dressed up in a pure white suit.

Harry hadn't heard much of what was said and understood even less – but it had had something to do with money and money was a concept the boy was very familiar with; his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were very vocal about exactly how much Harry cost them, usually by the hour.

But anyway – the man had come and Harry had heard some from his little room under the stairs, the cupboard actually, and then his Uncle had called him into the living room. He'd gone and the strange man had looked him over with a frown. Vernon had talked some more with Aunt Petunia adding things in occasionally.

Finally the man had stood and held out his hand to Harry. The boy hadn't even thought about it – he'd just taken the man's hand and followed him out to his shiny black car.

His Aunt and Uncle had sold him on his fifth birthday.

It'd taken him awhile to figure it out, but he wasn't stupid. They had talked about money all evening and then the man had taken Harry. He supposed it made sense – if his relatives had to spend money _on_ him then they could get money _for_ him right? Like the car – spend money to put gas into it and sell it when you didn't want it anymore.

A small part of him was hurt – they were his family after all – but a much larger part couldn't be happier.

There was no one here yelling at him or calling him names. His cousin Dudley couldn't beat him up anymore and he had a room that didn't double as a broom closet.

Of course, three months into this new adventure he wasn't using his room very much. He'd started sneaking into Gaara's room at night almost his first week here. The two would talk until they fell asleep and they didn't have nightmares anymore – either of them.

Gaara was the best. Harry had never had a friend before but the other five-year-old had filled that hole in his life and then some. The other boy had been kind of quiet and serious at first – and he still was, but now he would smile and laugh, too. He also liked to touch Harry whenever they were together. It had bothered him at first, his family had only touched him to hit him and his Aunt and Uncle hadn't even used their hands for that very often.

Gaara hugged him every time he had to leave the room Harry was in and whenever he came back. He always sat so close that their shoulders touched and he held Harry's hand wherever they went.

Harry was embarrassed to admit that he'd flinched away each time Gaara had reached for him until the other boy had finally asked him if he was afraid that Gaara would hurt him.

The expression on the red head's face had nearly broke Harry's heart – so sad and so hurt.

So the brunette had snuggled up with this new friend and apologized. He'd then told the boy about his relatives in stuttered Japanese. Near the end of the story he'd realized that objects were floating around the room and that the furniture was shaking back and forth.

Harry had looked up at his friend and found an expression of such rage – but he'd known it wasn't aimed at him. Gaara was angry _for_ him… and he could make things happen, just like Harry could.

The brunette had taken the other boy's face in his hands and whispered to him about how wonderful he was, how good and kind; about how happy he was that the boy could do things too and that meant Harry wasn't a freak like his Uncle always said he was.

Gaara had calmed down while Harry whispered to him and had finally hugged him so hard he couldn't breathe and had to stop talking.

"You're mine now Ruri," the boy had whispered in his ear, "and no one will ever hurt you again – no one."

Harry had laughed and hugged his friend right back.

That had been near the end of the first month and things had only gotten better from there. The only real dark spot had been Yashamaru.

Gaara's Uncle seemed nice enough but Harry didn't like him. Something about him reminded him of his own Uncle – something cold in his eyes. He didn't say anything to his friend, he didn't want to upset the other boy; but it was interesting that when the two talked about the special things they could do it was always at a whisper and never when Yashamaru was around.

For his part, Harry treated the man like his own Uncle – he stayed out of the way and did what he was told.

Now, having been here three months he was speaking Japanese fluently and at night when he'd sneak into Gaara's room he'd teach the red head a bit of English.

Gaara had training sessions away from their apartment twice a day that Harry wasn't allowed to attend. In those hours Yashamaru had started teaching him about first aid and had started him doing strange exercises with kicks and punches – Taijutsu he'd called it.

All in all – things couldn't be better in his opinion.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Here's chapter 5! I can't believe all the support I'm getting from you guys! Thanks so much for the encouragement - hope this dosen't disappoint!_

**Chapter 5**

"Today Ruri, we are going to talk instead of practice, alright?"

Harry knew it wasn't really a question so he merely knelt on the floor with a quiet, "Yes, Yashamaru-sensei."

"By now I'm sure you are aware of just how special our little Gaara is."

Again Harry said nothing but Yashamaru frowned. "I saw you both yesterday. Gaara was making your little toy soldiers move around – but he wasn't using his hands was he?"

Harry flinched, he couldn't help it. Gaara had indeed been making some of the toys move, but it had been Harry doing most of it. It was easier for him than it was for the red head. Of course, if they'd have been outside on the sand then Gaara would have won their little 'battle'. There was no stopping Gaara's sand and without it he was almost like a normal person – almost.

"Gaara is a demon Ruri."

The boy looked up, shocked by the spiteful tone in Yashamaru's voice; the same tone his own Uncle had used when calling him a Freak.

"What are you talking about?" He didn't even bother with the blonde's title.

"The night Gaara was to be born, his father cast a powerful jutsu – a spell if you will – to trap a powerful demon called Shukaku in Gaara's body. All the demons' power killed the mother – my sister. And now a demon wears the body of the boy who should be my nephew."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I've decided you need to know why you are here. It's been six months, more than enough time for you to settle in and learn how things work. Now you need to know your part."

"You are here purely to benefit Gaara. You are his companion, his friend. Before you came Gaara killed another child, a little girl on the playground in the village. She died because she was too scared to play with the demon and Gaara lost his temper. So we brought you here, an outsider who didn't know to be afraid… and it worked.

"What if I'm afraid now? What if I'm too scared to play with the _demon_ and Gaara kills me? Will you just get another kid to replace me?"

"No – if he kills you, then Gaara will die as well."

"What?"

"The Council of Elders was ready to do it before you came but the suggestion to bring you here stopped them – for now. But a relapse to his former behavior will see the order carried out, immediately."

"So what exactly is my part?"

"This is a Shinobi village – warriors who are trained to protect the Land of the Wind. Gaara's duty is to be the best Shinobi in the village. His power will bring notoriety and money back into the village. He will save this place – or so his father believes. You are here to help that happen. You are to do whatever you can to keep Gaara happy and in control. You've done well with this task so far with no direction, but as you both grow his needs will change and you will have to adapt."

"How do you mean?"

"He will begin going on missions in a few years, he will be ordered to hurt people and kill as well. He does not have a choice in this – it will be his duty as a Shinobi. He will come to you, most likely, to ease his mind and you will help him. You will not call him names or shun him. If he does not come to you then you shall go to him and get him to talk. I will tell you when. All Shinobi need a confidante, those that isolate themselves die very young."

Yashamaru paused for a moment, his face softening just for an instant before the icy mask came back, "If he needs to laugh you will play the clown; if he needs comfort you will play the mother and if he needs relief you will play the _whore_. Do you understand me?"

Ruri stood, "Yes Yashamaru-teme, I understand that Gaara may be a demon but you are the monster here.

* * *

Yashamaur watched Ruri leave the room without another word – shocked that a five year old had dared to speak to him in such a manner – much less call him a bastard. 

He stood with a sigh and went to the window to watch the village outside the tower.

He should never have come to the boy's apartment today; he should have gone into the desert as was his habit on the anniversary.

Today was Gaara's sixth birthday – six years since the death of Karura, Gaara's mother and his own sister.

She had been the only light in his life – his confidant and with her death, the part of him that could care about another had died as well.

He bore no love for his sister's son, he and his father were why Karura was dead; but he had been foolish today. He may very well have chased Ruri away from the boy. His rage over the death had driven him to be incautious and he may have ruined the project he'd spent the last five and half years on.

If Ruri rejected Gaara and the boy lashed out then both children would be killed; he'd not lied about that.

He didn't love the boy but he didn't want his blood on his hands, he had too much of that already.

Yashamaru did not dismiss the probability that the Kazekage would kill him as well if this all fell apart. The leader of their village would probably make the three deaths look like an assassination by a rival village – an excuse to go to war that would work to bring money back into the village, if only for the short term.

Their lives all lay in a five-year-olds' hands and for the first time in a long time Yashamaru was afraid.

* * *

Harry sat on Gaara's bed staring at his hands. Yashamaru had finally confirmed his suspicions; the man didn't love Gaara and was full of anger – though perhaps for a better reason than his own uncle. 

He hadn't understood some of what the man had said to him – for instance he didn't know what a whore was, but he'd gotten the gist.

Gaara could kill him, had killed before and would do so again.

The question was – was he scared of Gaara?

No.

Gaara was his friend and he would not allow Yashamaru's hateful words to tear them apart. The man had called Gaara a demon, well Harry's own uncle had called him much worse and it didn't make it true and it didn't make Harry a bad person.

He was sure it was the same for his friend.

No, he wasn't going to let one man's spitefulness take away the one good thing in his life.

Gaara was his friend and no on was going to ruin that – no one.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_One year later_

_Age: 6 ½_

"Report."

"Things continue to progress well, Lord Kazekage. Ruri is advancing in his Taijutsu faster than expected – but that's not too surprising with no Genjutsu or Ninjutsu to focus on."

"Are you still teaching him healing?"

"Yes Lord. He seems to enjoy it. He is, of course, limited in his abilities but he has a unique understanding of the human body and a desire to heal."

"What is your overall opinion of their relationship?"

"They are very close, my Lord. Nearly inseparable… I do not think there is anything for you to find objectionable."

"Ah… but I have been making my own observations and I do 'object'."

Yashamaru started to interrupt but the Kazekage raised a hand.

"Fortunately Gaara's vast improvement outweighs my objections – for now. I am a realist Yashamaru, and came to the realization not long after Shukaku's powers began to manifest that no mere female would be able to tame my youngest. However, it wouldn't do for the Council to become uncomfortable. Currently they know of Ruri only by name and believe him to be a girl. You are going to help perpetuate that misconception."

The younger ninja bowed his head in acceptance.

"You will continue Ruri's lessons in healing and taijutsu – they are appropriate pursuits for a Kunoichi, a female ninja. I will choose a female special operative to come and tutor him in the more feminine arts. It is a shame to have to bring an outsider into this. If only my daughter Temari and taken more after her mother…"

Wisely Yashamaru refrained from comment on that.

"Have the boy grow out his hair. The Council will want to see him soon. They've been hinting about it for months and I won't be able to ignore them much longer."

"Will the council not be angry when they find out you have deceived them?"

The Kazekage laughed, "I will not be doing the deceiving – their own eyes will do the work for me. If I do not correct their erroneous assumptions and they are not Shinobi enough to see the truth then how am I at fault? Besides, it is not unusual for a male Shinobi to go undercover as a female."

"But you do not want him trained a Shinobi?"

Another laugh, "With no chakra? Come now, Yashamaru, do not be foolish. Ruri will however, be a companion to a Shinobi and as such must learn our ways. It is your responsibility to teach him but also to ensure that he gets no delusions of grandeur. He will never have a rank; never have missions save one – to see to Gaara's contentment."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Dismissed."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Have you heard of the Oiran, Ruri?"

He considered the question carefully, fiddling with his tea cup while he thought about it before finally shaking his head.

The woman across the low table from him gave a small smile, "I thought not. Did Yashamaru-sensei tell you anything about why I am here?"

"He said you were going to be taking over most of my training, Ishigawa-Sensei."

"Call me Hikaru, Ruri. Is that all he told you?"

Ruri nodded and the woman sighed.

"An Oiran is a specially trained companion – "

"I'm Gaara's companion."

Another small smile, "Yes you are Ruri, but don't interrupt. It is most rude, especially when the person you are interrupting is of a higher rank than yourself – "

"Are you of higher rank than I am?"

"You're interrupting again."

The look she gave him could have frozen his tea if she'd have focused on his cup instead of him.

Ruri bowed his head, "I am sorry Sensei."

She nodded, "I understand you are excited but there is _never_ an excuse for bad manners. That shall be your first lesson."

"Yes Sensei."

"Being an Oiran is not an easy thing Ruri. You're training will be long and difficult but I have been watching you and Garra-sama, and I believe this will benefit both of you."

* * *

Hikaru watched the glint that entered her new pupil's eyes when she said she'd been watching the boys.

"_Ah – so he's aware of the mirrors then. Good. He's also smart enough not to blurt out what he knows. He's keeping it to himself, although I wonder if he's told Gaara-sama."_

She eyed him as he took a sip of his tea.

I think not. From what I've learned from Yashamaru, this building probably wouldn't be standing if the Jinchurikki – the demon vessel – knew just how controlled his life had been so far.

"Your mornings will still be spent with Yashamaru-sensei, learning healing and taijutsu, correct?"

Ruri nodded.

"After the noon meal, then, to the evening meal will be our time. To start, we will work mostly on dance and etiquette."

"Dancing?"

Hikaru laughed inwardly at the barely veiled annoyance in the boy's tone.

"Yes, dancing Ruri. This is a very important kill for an Oiran. You will be required to perform a flawless dance in public in order to be considered a fully trained Companion – but do not worry. That will not be for a few years, yet."

"Oh."

"It's not so bad, my boy. Learning dance will improve your taijutsu. Surely that's worth something?"

He nodded in agreement but she noticed his bottom lip seemed more pronounced than it had been a moment ago.

She sighed silently, the boy had huge potential, but coaxing him into fulfilling it may prove to be the greatest challenge of her life.

Ah well, there's no time like the present.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Here it is - a little longer than most so far. I know they're short so far (I've gotten soooo many complaints about that), but they will get longer! Have faith! Things have got to develop and time will skip as appropriate. I am thoroughly impressed with the amount of reviews I've gotten on this fic - and the amount of folks who were avoiding it who are now on board - I love you guys! Keep the input comming and let me know where you would like to see the fic go - cause I still don't know either! Enjoy!_

**Chapter 8**

_6 months later_

_Ruri age 7_

And so Ruri learned to dance. He also began learning the intricacies of conversation and etiquette as well as a multitude of other things that, while not officially 'lessons', were vital to the role he was learning to play.

Hikaru was stunned at the boy's aptitude; he soaked up all she had to teach him like a sponge. He was always eager, even when the lessons were mere repetition of the days and weeks before; he was unbelievably flexible, more like most young girls were at his age but the strength of his sex.

She had been very careful in their lessons to stress that while the skills he was learning were traditionally associated with females, he was not female and should not act as if he were.

The Kazekage had been very specific in his instructions and she knew he checked up on her and Ruri frequently. The boy was to project an air of femininity but not present himself or refer to himself as either male or female.

The Kazekage wanted an honest deception.

She could almost pity the boy and road he was on – not a Shinobi but with all the skills; all the knowledge of a woman but not one. He was becoming a collection of 'almosts' and she hoped the strain of such an existence didn't break her little pupil.

And today…

Today Ruri would meet the Council of Elders of Suna – the Village Hidden in the Sand. The Kazekage had scheduled it such that most of the Elders would be present but it would be a short interview due to a meeting with the Leaf village representatives shortly after – rumor had it that they had misplaced their own Jinchuriki.

It was an excellent gamble – not a long enough amount of time for the young boy to trip and expose himself, but with enough members present that it didn't appear as if the leader of their village was hiding something.

Now they just had to hope that Ruri could pull it off.

* * *

Ruri entered the council chambers silently; sending an unspoken prayer to whomever paid attention to such things to let him get though this without embarrassing himself or his sensei, who he knew was watching from some hidey-hole in the room.

Kneeling on the cushion provided he managed to get the wide sleeves of his black and white kimono to spread just so. Bowing his head made the bells and white wisteria blooms hiding his still too short hair rustle and jingle softly.

He rested his hands on his knees, fingers spread wide to display the green enamel on his fingernails that matched the green shadow over his eyes.

Hikaru hadn't wanted to do much with makeup for him due to his gender and, luckily, his restriction to the indoors had made his complexion so white that he was able to skip the white face paint most Oiran had to use. Hikaru had merely applied a light dusting of white powder, the eye shadow, black mascara, two small dots of blush on his cheeks and a coat of pink lip gloss.

He was glad he hadn't had to go through the normal Oiran makeup ritual - what he already had on itched and he wanted to wash it off as soon as possible.

* * *

Hikaru watched the meeting via a peephole drilled though a portrait hanging in the room. It was a secret niche for an Anbu special-ops guard to use when delegates from other villages visited and only when the Kazekage ordered it…

Well at least she was an Anbu - the best, actually, in the Seduction and Espionage unit.

No one would ever know she'd been spying and she needed to observe how well Ruri handled himself under pressure.

Lord Okudara was the only elder missing and that was perhaps a blessing. The man was the lead medical specialist in the village and if any of them could pick up on the fact that Ruri was not what he seemed it would be him.

The men laughed at something Ruri said and Hiraku was glad to note that there was actual amusement in there and not merely the indulgence of an adult to a child. She wished she was close enough to hear what was said but it was not a guards place to hear the business of his betters and so the peep hole was placed accordingly.

She could tell though that the six Elders were responding to the boy as an adult, exactly the outcome they were trying to achieve – well except for Lord Iwata. Hikaru noticed the dangerously lustful spark in that one's eyes and vowed to keep watch. That kind of look led to unhealthy obsessions.

Ruri didn't need any more trials in his life.

Hikaru was proud of the fact that she was a Shinobi – a Shinobi that had managed to talk herself out of every confrontation she'd ever found herself in. Oh she'd killed people, but those were planned assassinations and on her terms. Strategy, planning and a silver tongue were the truest skills of an Oiran and watching little Ruri interact with the most hardened men in the village cemented her decision to train the boy as her protégé.

She watched Ruri rise gracefully to his feet and leave the room. She couldn't hear their words but she could make out a few words and read their body language, the men were happy with Ruri and with the Kazekage's decision to pair the child with Gaara.

Ruri had the gift. He would be her successor. She just had to figure out how to teach him her more deadly skills without Yashamaru and the Kazekage finding out…


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Well now I don't think there will be any complaints about length on this one... although it is the product of a horde of plot-hamsters attacking me! Oh the horror of the plot-hamsters! (For those not in the know I have plot Ferrets instead of bunnies becuase they are cute but vicious, they are the main story idea. But with them come the inevitable and unavoidable infestation of plot hamsters! Also known as subplots...) So here we go!_

**Chapter 9**

_Meanwhile…_

Lucius Malfoy walked down one of the many wide hallways of Malfoy Manor with a small blonde haired bundle held against his chest.

A year it had taken him to get the clearance needed to access the Hidden Continent – and the trail left by little Harry Potter. A year to get in and another of searching only to come back… well, not really empty handed.

The blonde child in his arms whimpered and Lucius laid his face against the top of the boys head, shushing him gently.

In searching for The-Boy-Who-Lived, he had found another treasure – one better than the focus of his search, depending on how you looked at it. In the Village Hidden in the Leaves, one of the oldest and most prestigious of the Hidden Villages he'd found a starved, badly beaten and literally half-dead blonde boy with whisker marks on his cheeks.

A Jinchurikki.

His Jinchurikki.

If his Shinobi cousins didn't want to be burdened with caring for such a being, then he would gladly do so.

By Merlin, he hadn't even hidden the fact that he was taking the boy! He supposed the gate guards may have thought he was merely carrying his own son, both being blonde and the child's faced tucked as it had been against Lucius' neck.

But still.

It had taken him a full day to leave the anti-apparition wards that all the old villages had and no one had come to snatch the boy back. Even the slowest Genin would have been able to catch up with him in under an hour.

They might as well have tied a red bow on the boy.

"Father?"

Lucius smiled indulgently at the sleep tousled form of his only son, now seven and half years old, peeking out of his room, "Draco, why aren't you in bed? It's very late."

"I had Dobby come wake me when you got home."

Lucius grimaced at the mention of that particular house elf, the thing was mentally deficient, but his son loved it.

"Who's that father?"

"This is a new playmate for you, but he's been badly hurt. Since you're awake now you can use the floo in the family guest room to summon Severus, tell him to bring his black back, hmmm?"

His son's face lit with the widest smile he'd seen in a long time, "Yes Sir!"

* * *

"So what do you think Severus?"

"Well, he'll live. His nose and right arm is broken; he's also got a fractured leg and three cracked ribs. What concerns me most are the obvious signs of prolonged malnutrition. It has done some severe damage; his recovery is going to be long and painful. I don't believe he's ever had a proper meal in his life. If he weren't a Shinobi he'd never be able to live a normal, healthy life. His chakra has managed to confine the damage to his skeleton. He will never be tall and the breaks are going to take much longer to heal than they would've if he'd been healthy. We won't be able to administer Skele-grow either – ever. If you plan to keep him –,"

Lucius nodded his assent.

" – you may consider getting him an alert badge of some sort; a bracelet or a necklace to warn about the Skele-grow in case he gets hurt outside your supervision. Depending on the dose, the reaction he would have could kill him."

Draco had seated himself on the edge of the bed beside Severus' patient, quietly studying the boy and listening to the prognosis. At this last statement his eyes went wide, "Why would it kill him? I've taken that potion a couple of times and nothing bad ever happened to me."

Severus considered his godson before looking to Lucius for approval. After another nod from his friend the Potion Master explained.

"It is always a risky proposition to give a Shinobi Wizarding potions. They are our cousins, yes, but their magic or chakra as they call it is still slightly different than our own magical core and so their bodies and chakra react differently to the ingredients. In this young man's case the problem is made worse because of the damage already done to his bones because he's never been able to eat right. His bones are very, very weak. If someone were to give him the Skele-grow potion it is very likely that it would try to force him to grow an all new skeleton."

"But –,"

Severus held up a hand, "I know some Wizards have had to have an all new skeleton grown, but our boy here is Shinobi. In a Wizard, the potion would dissolve the old skeleton while at the same time growing a new one. We know from tests done long ago that a Shinobi's chakra will not allow Wizarding magic, including potions, to remove anything from a body – be it a splinter, a bad liver, or a bone."

"So it wouldn't work."

Severus smiled at the child, still amazed by how willing Draco was to follow a conversation. He was interested in everything and very seldom got bored when learning something new.

"Oh it would work Draco, just not the way it should. He would grow an all new skeleton – right next to the old one. That's why it would kill him."

Draco looked down at the unconscious blonde with horror and Severus felt fear tickle his belly. He hadn't meant to scare him! It was important information – Lucius had agreed! Damnit! He better not have just traumatized his Godson!

The boy looked to his father, the horrified expression replaced with a quizzical one.

"Could we have the alert necklace charmed with a Bertha's Baby Blocker spell? We could tune it to the potion. That way he couldn't take it accidentally and someone couldn't give it to him if he's unconscious – like now."

Severus knew his gob smacked expression matched Lucius' but it didn't stop his bark of laughter.

Bertha's Baby Blocker spell was used by Wizarding parents to keep their children from placing bothersome objects their mouths – usually things like marbles and knuts. It only prevented whatever it was set to block from entering the mouth. So if for instance, it was set to block marbles, it would stop the marbles but not food, drink, or even other miscellaneous objects, like rocks.

Using the spell to block out a potentially deadly potion was a brilliant idea and actually sparked some nefarious ideas in his head….

"An excellent idea Draco! How you got to be so smart with two dunderheads like us for your role models, I'll never know."

Lucius scowled at him and Severus just smirked right back.

"I got it from mum!"

"Of course you did Luv," the woman purred from the doorway behind Severus.

He turned to greet her and in doing so allowed the woman's eyes to fall upon the small body on the bed.

Before he could say anything Narcissa stepped into the room, "What have you two gone and done now?"

* * *

All of the bedrooms in the family wing of the manor were actually small suites with their own bathrooms and a small sitting room cum study area.

Lucius had guided them into the sitting room of this suite and Narcissa was impatiently waiting for an explanation from her husband. She loved Lucius, she truly did, but for all his vaunted Slytherin cunning he had a nasty streak of Gryffindor impulsiveness that more often than not caused them nothing but grief.

Just look at that whole Death Eater business! She'd nearly lost him to that bit of foolishness and Draco was the one suffering from the stain left by it. The child had no friends and the few children whose parents would allow their children to associate with them were of the lowest sort. Oh they were rich and supposedly pure bloods, but they had no class and even less intelligence. Only that Zabini boy was worth anything and Draco only got to see him for a month or so every summer!

And now this.

"Now Luv, it's not what you're thinking…"

"Don't presume to tell me what I'm thinking Lucius Abraxas Malfoy. You were supposed to be looking for Harry Potter. You were supposed to find him and take him under your wing so we could educate him on his responsibilities to the Potter name. He is going to be a Lord and you said we didn't need another ignorant muggle-loving fool on the Lord's council. I agreed with all these things but none of them tell me exactly why there is a child in that bed who is clearly not HARRY JAMES POTTER!"

Severus almost chuckled at the look of slack jawed amazement on his friends face – almost. Narcissa rarely objected to anything Lucius wanted and when she did it was always with a dignified and calm suggestion of another course of action. To see her actually angry and yelling… well he wasn't about to have that anger aimed at him.

The dark haired main had sat himself in a wing chair near the empty fireplace and allowed Draco the rare treat of curling up in his lap to sleepily watch the unfolding drama.

"Will the boy really be alright Sev," the snow-white blonde whispered against his ear.

"Yes Draco."

"Do you think Mum will let us keep him?"

Severus smiled, "It might take some persuasion."

"You and Father are good at that!"

"Yes we are – I think the boy will get to stay. Would you like that?"

"Very much."

"Well why don't you head off to bed and I'll see what I can do, alright?"

Draco pressed a kiss to the man's jaw, "Night Sev!"

"Goodnight Dragon."

Draco scampered out of the room, unnoticed by his seething mother and ineffectually blubbering father.

Severus took pity on the man and with a deep fortifying breath drew Narcissa's attention his way. The woman got riled up so rarely that Lucius just couldn't cope with it when she did tear into him.

"Narcissa, Luv, Lucius rescued the poor boy – he likely would have died in that alleyway if your husband hadn't stumbled across him. Can you imagine, a Jinchurikki nearly beaten to death by his own village – and starved on top of that!"

Severus shook his head, eyes wide in feigned horror.

It was Narcissa's turn to look shocked as she slowly lowered herself to the edge of the couch.

"Perhaps you had better explain."

* * *

An hour later Lady Malfoy's temper had been mollified and both blondes had taken themselves off to bed.

Plans had been made but nothing set into motion just yet – they had to be sure of all the details and to do that they needed to speak to the boy. One mistake and they could all end up in Azkaban – kidnapping the child of an allied nation was no small offense, especially given the Malfoy's unsavory past.

Severus would spend this last month before school started here at the Manor; as much as he could anyway. Preparing for the nine month long torture session that was his job as a Professor at a school for young Witches and Wizards was not an easy thing.

This boy needed care and while Severus wasn't a licensed Medi-Wizard, he was a Master of Potions, one of barely a handful in the world, and he was an acknowledged expert in the subject of torture and its affects on the Wizarding body and mind – not the most prestigious of titles but it did tend to help people keep their opinions of him to themselves. It would also help in this particular case as he had no doubt this child had been tortured.

Oh, he doubted it was anything as overt as his former employer had enjoyed, but neglect and starvation were torture nonetheless – never mind the beatings.

This event would not go unnoticed and Severus was now caught up in the middle of it. Lucius had set the hands of fate into motion when he'd rescued this boy, and they would merely have to wait and see where they would all end up.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Here's a little Gaara/Harry interaction like you all have been asking for. Sorry it took so long - I've been working on chapter 11 and damn if that thing just won't end! It just keeps going and going and going... anyway, enjoy and thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews!_

**Chapter 10**

_Three days after the Council interview_

"Father was very pleased with your interview Ruri," Gaara said softly.

They were spooned together with the red head against his back in Gaara's bed, with only the light of the full moon reflecting off the white cob floor to allow them to see.

Ruri merely shrugged his shoulders at the praise. If the Kazekage was happy then so was Gaara. Ruri hated the fact that his friend seemed to idolize his father – a man that only spoke to his son in terms of his training, allowing the boy to be raised in a pretty prison tended by a slave and a lying, twofaced bastard.

The green eyed boy was angry and he was trying so hard not to take it out on his friend. He just wanted to go to sleep but Gaara was in one of his rare talkative moods having just gotten back from a week long mission in the Land of Grass.

"I wish I could have been here to see you all dressed up – I'm sure you were beautiful."

"But you weren't here, were you!" The accusation was out before he could stop it and he felt Gaara go so terribly still behind him.

It was so quiet that Ruri's ears rang with it. He knew he shouldn't have said that, he wanted to fix it but his anger and guilt were waging a war in his chest and he couldn't think of what to say to make it better.

Gaara pulled away slightly and tugged on his shoulder until Ruri lay on his back. Ruri closed his eyes – he didn't want to see the hurt in Gaara's eyes, hurt he had put there.

"Are you alright?"

Ruri shook his head back and forth.

He felt Gaara leave the bed, "I'll get Yashamaru."

The brunette jackknifed up, "NO!"

"Ruri, obviously something is wrong. You are not wounded and I am not familiar with illnesses so I will get Yashamaru."

"Yashamaru is the problem!"

Ruri slapped his hand over his mouth so hard it hurt. Gaaras wide eyes had gotten bigger at Ruri's screech. He knew his behavior was probably scarring his friend but he couldn't seem to calm down. He was breathing hard and his eyes were starting to water.

The red head approached him cautiously, "Tell me what is wrong Ruri."

It was Gaara's tone of voice that broke him – normally the red head spoke only in monotone, his feelings only rarely betrayed. Tonight the demand was filled with undertones of anxiety and fear – things Ruri had never before heard from his friend.

"But you'll be angry and I don't want you to be angry – they'll hurt you!"

Gaara crawled back up onto the bed and pulled the smaller boy into his arms. The motions were awkward and Ruri could tell his friend had no idea how to comfort someone. Ruri was the comforter in this relationship and Gaara had never succumbed to a crying fit before.

Ruri sobbed a chuckle at the thought.

"Tell me, my Emerald. I will not be angry."

"Oh but you will," he shuddered against the other boy, rubbing his face into the softness of his night shirt. "I shouldn't be acting like this. Yashamaru just said some things to upset me. He's usually only that way around your birthday. I don't know what got him all worked up today."

"What did he say?"

Ruri snuggled closer and Gaara tightened the arm around him, his free hand slowly carding through brown-black locks.

"I had asked when you would be returning."

"Why did the answer disturb you so?"

"It wasn't the answer – it was what he said after."

Ruri sniffed.

"Go on."

The smaller boy took a deep breath, "He said it was a shame that they had to waste your talents on a mere delivery mission but it was the only thing they had to get you out of the village for a long enough time."

"Time for what?"

"To dispose of my body if I gave myself away at the meeting."

The dresser toppled over.

"Has he said such things to you before?" Gaara's voice was so, so cold.

"Yes – but that's not what upset me."

"What was more upsetting than a death threat?"

Ruri sniffed again, "That they would lie to you about it. They couldn't tell you they'd killed me so the Kazekage wouldn't lose face. They'd have told you I had an accident or maybe they'd blame it on the visiting Leaf nins. Your father's been looking for a reason to go to war with them that the Daimyo couldn't override and an assassination would do it. You would attack them and you'd either kill them and be alone again afterwards or you'd die. Their disregard for you and your feelings upset me. You being alone and angry upset me."

Gaara's hands had frozen on him while he talked, "You were upset… for me?"

Ruri reached up and wrapped one arm around Gaara's neck in an awkward one armed embrace.

"Of course. You're mine as much as I'm yours."

The door opened and Yashamaru stuck his head into the room – the first time he had done so in over three years. Ruri narrowed his swollen eyes at the man.

"Is everything all right?"

"Get out Yashamaru."

Ruri had never heard Gaara use that tone of voice before – it made the hairs on his arms stand up.

Yashamaru frowned, "You will answer my question Gaara."

Ruri had always found it interesting just how much sand could accumulate in the nooks and crannies of a room – especially Gaara's room. He supposed it only made sense with them living in a desert and tonight the red head used that sand to express his displeasure with his uncle. He used his sand to throw the dresser at the man.

Yashamaru was lucky that the door opened into the room and it was between him and the heavy piece of furniture. As it was, Ruri winced at the sound of the door impacting a body. A second sound, that of Yashamaru hitting the floor proved that the fully trained Shinobi had not expected the attack or seen it coming.

"I do not wish to come between you and your Uncle, Gaara."

"You never could, my Emerald. He means nothing to me while you are everything."

Ruri looked up into darkened teal eyes and could not name the emotion there, "But-"

"I do as my Uncle and my Father say because they are my guardians and Father is the Kazekage. I do it because it doesn't bother me to cater to them and they take care of you. If they cease to do that or make nuisances of themselves then I will leave them behind."

The brunette could tell his friend was deadly serious.

"What about your brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari?"

"I have no feelings either way for them… I would like to know them but Father has made them so afraid of me… even on missions it is awkward."

Ruri moved out of Gaara's arms and the two boys shifted around until they were back under the white and sand colored blankets facing each other.

"I see them sometimes," the brunette murmured, "during my lessons with Hiraku. I could speak to them for you; maybe break the ice a bit."

The corner of Gaara's lips curled up slightly, "I would not be against that."

"Good."

Gaara took Ruri's face in his hands, "No one will ever lay a finger on you and live Ruri."

"I know," he whispered.

The red head pulled him back into his arms and laid a light kiss on the odd lightening bolt scar on Ruri's forehead, "I think in the morning I will remind Father and Uncle just why they've raised me in this cage."


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: OMG!!! Once I got done writing it I couldn't look at it long enough to type it! It just wouldn't end! And of course it has nothing to do with the characters you want to hear about – which is why the length is boggling my little mind right now. So anyway… here you go! Oh – a side note (because nobody's keeping track) all the boys are roughly around the age of 7._

**Chapter 11**

_Three days after the Council interview._

_Six days after Naruto's disappearance._

Sarutobi Shibata, Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, studied his Council with a critical eye.

"As you know, Uzumaki Naruto disappeared from our village six days ago and our search teams have found no evidence of who took him, or where they might have headed. Our envoys to Sunagakure and Amegakure also found no clues."

"Today a messenger arrived," he motioned to a bespectacled occidental man to his left, another man, bigger with a dazed look knelt behind the first. "He brings word of the boy."

There was muttering among the council members.

The messenger cleared his throat, "I am Undersecretary Jamison Hayworth and my companion is Auror Tucker. I am here on behalf of both the Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom and that of both Lords Snape and Malfoy."

The mans lips moved out of sync with his words, like a badly dubbed film, but this show of Wizarding Magic fascinated the Hokage. A translation charm had been used so that Hayworth could speak and hear English but his audience would hear Japanese – a useful trick but it would have been more so if the effects weren't quite so obvious.

"Lord Malfoy has petitioned the Ministry for asylum for one minor child Uzumaki, citing numerous acts of violence committed against said minor and obvious signs of neglect that have resulted in permanent physical damage."

"Nonsense," Uchiha Fugaku scoffed, "the boy is training to be a ninja and any injuries obtained during training might look severe but would not cause permanent damage. Obviously your healers have no idea what it our way of life entails, _civilian_."

Saurtobi had closed his eyes at Hayworth's words. This was his fault. He should have taken the boy in himself when no one else would. The orphanage had kept him till age 5 – academy age and then dumped him into the street. He'd allowed the council to pressure him, allowed them to let this happen. By the Gods – Naruto was permanently hurt!

"Be silent Uchiha and allow my guest to speak," he rasped out before turning his attention back to the Wizard, "How is he crippled, exactly."

Hayworth studied him over the top of his half-moon spectacles, "His entire skeletal structure has been weakened due to extreme prolonged malnutrition. If he were a Wizarding child most of the damage could be corrected, but as it is… I have a full list of the injuries he was found with and that could be determined by the scaring on his bones." He held up a scroll, "It is not a short list but it could have been longer. Due to the minor's own Chakra and that of the demon within him - " gasps filled the room, "- all soft tissue damage sustained over the years has been healed fully. We have only his memories of these events to go on. The memories were viewed, tested for truthfulness and transcribed here by licensed Legilimens Lord Severus Snape." The scroll he held up this time was as thick as his forearm, "It also includes many detailed renderings of the boy's attackers, sketched by the Auror Department's senior artist Minny Finnygig."

Saurtobi noticed that Uchiha Fugaku had paled.

"What does this have to do with the demon's location," Fugaku demanded. "It must be returned to Konoha immediately."

A feeling was building in Sarutobi's gut, both foreboding and hopeful at the same time, which was only reinforced by Hayworth who was looking at the Uchiha Elder as if he were something foul on his sandal.

"If one cannot keep up with the conversation, Sir, then one should remain silent." The condescending look he bestowed upon the Council would have done the Hyuga's proud, if they hadn't been on the receiving end of it anyway. "I understand why Sarutobi-sama wished his Council to be present during these proceedings but understand that this is not even a formality, it is a courtesy. The fate of minor child Uzumaki Naruto has already been ruled upon and you have no say in it what so ever. It was Lord's Malfoy and Snape that requested I visit here personally as a kindness to the child and to the Hokage. The staggering amount of evidence in his case precludes even the thought of that child stepping foot on the Hidden Continent until he is a legal adult – and then only by choice!"

Hayworth had risen from his formal kneeling position to stand on his knees as he dressed down the Uchiha. Clearing his throat he seemed to realize what he had done and sat back down on his heels.

"The minor child Uzumaki has no living relatives or legal guardians. He is, or I should say, _was_ a ward of the Village until such time as he chose to leave the care facility he was placed in at birth, or until he reached the Shinobi rank of Chunin. According to the statement given by Lord Snape, the day the child enrolled in the Shinobi training academy he found his belongings waiting outside on the street. He did not choose to leave – he was kicked out, a clear and heinous violation of Village law. A five year old left to fend for himself – the Fourth Hokage's own son!"

There were more than a handful of shocked gasps at his announcement. Clearly the child's parentage was news to the younger members of his Council. That damn Law of Silence about everything to do with the Fox Demon was being used even among his own Council. His second term as Hokage was a disgrace.

Hayworth took a deep breath and visibly calmed himself, "But I digress. The Wizenmagot has ruled in this case that the minor child Uzumaki Naruto, son of Arashi Hotaru and Uzumaki Uzume be remanded into the custody of the Ministry of Magic's Children's Division. This is allowed under the Shinobi-Wizarding Treaty of 1627, article 43, paragraph 5. To fulfill the terms of the article, Lord Snape has petitioned to adopt said minor child and will therefore assume all rights and responsibilities, both explicit and implied of said child."

"Only a fool would take such a creature into their home!"

Hayworth raised an eyebrow at Uchiha Fugaku's words, "I can assure you Uchiha-sama that Lord Snape is no one's fool. While he is not a popular figure in our society he is a Master of both Potions and the Mind Arts. He is a decorated war hero. I'll admit that many in Child Services did not want to grant the adoption due to Lord Snpae's activities in the war, but he was the best possible choice when the full of extent of the child's abuse was revealed."

"Then too, Lord Snape has asked for Heir's Rights – a deal maker in the government's eyes."

"Heir's Rights," Sarutobi asked.

Hayworth cleared his throat again, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Due to his work in the war, Lord Snape was rendered sterile. His mother's line is a long and powerful one, one which the Ministry has no wish to see end with him. Heir's Rights means that Naruto has agreed to carry some of Lord Snape's magical essence within him until such time as he sires his first child. That child will bear none of its father's traits, only Lord Snape's own and the mothers – it will be as if Lord Snape fathered the child instead of Naruto."

The man glanced back down to the scroll he'd been referring to throughout the meeting, "I do believe there was something else… oh yes. They have also stipulated that the second child born to Naruto will bear both his own and Lord Snape's traits. Apparently Naruto wanted a blood connection to his new father."

Lord Uchiha snorted, "As if anyone would allow their daughter to marry a monster like that."

A few members nodded their agreement but most were silent.

"Hmmmm, I do believe Lord Snape has already received over two hundred inquiries for marriage contracts for young Lord Uzumaki-Snape. He's the second most eligible bachelor – after Lord Harry Potter himself."

The room exploded.

"Lord Hokage – surely you do not intend to allow this! The Kyubi cannot be allowed to breed; the offspring will surely be demons as well!"

Hayworth shook his head once, lips pressed together in annoyance, "Your people have forgotten so much of their past Lord Hokage – it is a problem my people are experiencing as well, though perhaps not quite on this level. The ignorance of your Clan Elders is a bit… astounding."

"Let us skip the histrionics and move onto the primary reason I am here. Lord Snape recognizes that Naruto is a Shinobi, born and bred, and as there are no Shinobi currently living in or visiting the Wizarding world he would like to request a tutor be sent. It need not be immediate as young Master Uzumaki-Snape will be confined to his bed for several more weeks.

Silence reigned and Sarutobi studied his council. They were trying to avoid his notice now. They knew he regarded Naruto with fondness and while their machinations had stayed his hand before, they had now lost their bargaining chip. Most of them were aware anyway – Uchiha Fugaku was a little slow today, apparently. It had been a sad day when that man had been named Clan Head.

Fugaku jumped to his feet, "This is ridiculous! I will kill this fool, then I and my team will recover the demon vessel."

Sarutobi didn't even try to stop him, he'd seen Hayworth's rather dim appearing partner pull his slim stick – his wand.

The Shinobi launched himself at Hayworth but with a few mumbled words and a flick of the wand Fugaku hit the floor with a loud thump, arms and legs ramrod straight. Only his eyes were left mobile and if they could have killed, they would have.

"Lord Uchiha," Tucker boomed, "you are charged with the attempted murder of a Wizarding Official executing a legal matter for the Ministry of Magic, a clear violation of the Wizarding-Shinobi treaty. As we are on Shinobi lands I will remand you into the custody of Lord Sarutobi, Third Hokage of the Leaf Village for punishment. Be warned however that any further breeches of the treaty, including the attempted removal of Naruto Uzumaki-Snape from his legal guardian will result in your confinement to Azkaban Prison and a good likelihood of receiving the Dementor's Kiss. Also, be aware that this breech of treaty and subsequent warning are now registered with both the Ministry of Magic and the Wizard-Shinobi Alliance."

Sarutobi just glimpsed a quill dragging itself across a piece of parchment when Tucker snapped his fingers and the scroll disappeared with 'pop'.

The Hokage stood, "Uchiha Fugaku, you have insulted my personal guest and attempted to kill an apparently unarmed civilian," it was past time for him to put the Uchiha Clan back in their place, their thinly veiled attempts to supplant him were about to end. "You are hereby stripped of your title as Clan head," there were gasps at that, though just as many were unsurprised. "To prevent the stain of your actions from being cast upon your successor I shall be choosing your replacement personally. All of the Uchiha males between the ages of twenty and forty will report to me tomorrow morning for an interview."

"To restore the honor of the Leaf Village in the Wizarding World's eyes, your sons, both Itachi and Sauske will accompany Mister Hayworth back to his land to train Naruto. They will remain there until such time that Naruto exceeds their skills or he bids them leave."

Sarutobi paused for a moment, considering the prone man before nodding to himself, "Your actions here today do not suit the head of the Konoha Military Police force. You are hereby stripped of that title and will be removed from active duty as a Shinobi all together."

Now even the unsympathetic Clan heads looked shocked. It was a harsh sentence. Fugaku, for all intents and purposes was now a civilian and would have to make a living as such.

"This may seem a harsh sentence, but you have violated the very treaty that the Hidden Continent is founded on. If this act were to go unpunished, the seals that protect this world from the outside would fail and our very way of life would end. Fugaku brought this danger upon us all with his unreasoning hatred of a child. He was aware of the treaty and sought to violate it, unknowing and uncaring that such an action would bring a war upon us the likes of which you cannot even imagine. You did this Uchiha Fugaku – and now you will live with what you have wrought."

Sarutobi motioned to the masked guard behind him, "Take Uchiha-san to his home and inform Sauske and Itachi to pack their things. Tell them they are going on an extended mission and to bring anything of meaning with them. Do not allow them to speak with their father and bring them directly to my office."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

With a puff of smoke both the Anbu and the stricken Uchiha were gone.

"You shall have your tutor Mister Hayworth. Uchiha Itachi may be young but he is one of the most accomplished Shinobi in the village."

"I apologize for the loss of your Police Chief, Lord Hokage," Hayworth murmured.

"Do not be, Fugaku and his prejudices have been a strong force of contention on this Council since his first day. It is I who must apologize to you Mister Haywroth, while I realize you are more than capable of defending yourself, I never dreamed that Fugaku would attempt such a thing."

"Was the founder of his line an incomplete merger? It would explain his temper."

Sarutobi was lost, "I know not of what you speak. Most of the first generation Clan scrolls were locked by the First Hokage's own Council after his death."

"Ah," Hayworth studied his hands silently for a few minutes. "If I may be so bold Lord Hokage, and I mean no disrespect – you may wish to unlock those scrolls. I believe it would give you a unique insight into your people. Besides which, my associates and I have found that knowledge not used is a waste and such waste generally does more harm than good."

Sarutobi studied the man, bemused. "I will take your advice under consideration."

Hayworth bowed his head, "You honor me, Hokage-sama."

The older man moved toward the door, "We shall adjourn for half an hour and then continue our meeting," he said, his narrowed gaze focusing on his council. "There are a few more matters to be addressed. Mister Hayworth, Mister Tucker, if you will follow me my office, we can wait for the Uchiha boys there.

* * *

Hayworth and Tucker waited patiently, studying the village outside through a large curved window.

Meanwhile Sarutobi searched frantically for a large bag of scrolls he'd transcribed after the Fourth Hokage's death. Naruto was the last living heir to both the Uzumaki and Arashi bloodlines, as such he was entitled to a wealth of knowledge, both Clan and Jutsu related. He had made copies of the scrolls because he'd feared for the safety of Naruto's legacy – and rightly so. Several attempts to destroy the originals had been made by unnamed assailants over the years; six months ago had been the most recent and most successful attack. Many of the originals had been damaged, if not lost completely but thankfully no on knew of the copies and they were safe – if he could just find them!

Finally he located the right secret compartment and reverently removed the dusty bag.

Reentering his office he found Hayworth quietly studying the equally silent Uchiha siblings. Sarutobi noticed an unfamiliar glint in Itachi's eyes as the teen tightly gropped his little brother's hand in his own – another unfamiliar sight. It took the Hokage a moment of contemplation before he realized what the strange glint in the normally cold boy's eyes represented – hope.

Sarutobi felt relief wash through him, they hadn't lost the boy yet – and he was a boy, despite all his accomplishments, despite being an Anbu captain in his own right, he was a boy.

Sarutobi took that small sign of life as a good omen – a signal that he was finally making the right decisions afer so many years of making the wrong ones.

"Captain Uchiha, I have a mission for you and young Sauske, but first I must ask you, how do you feel about the Kyubi vessel Uzumaki Naruto?"

Itachi tilted his head to the side allowing his shaggy black hair to touch his shoulder, red Sharingan wheels spinning in his eyes.

"I have no particular feeling at all Lord Hokage, I have seen the boy but I've never spoken with him."

"And you feel no anger or bitterness towards the boy or the fox demon he carries within him; the same demon that nearly destroyed this village?"

"No Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi saw that spark of hope start to flicker and die.

"Excellent Captain Uchiha, that was just the answer I was looking for. I know you are aware of most of the facts pertaining to the Kyubi's attack – but there are others I know you are not. Naruto Uzumaki was born on the night of the attack, his mother Uzumaki Uzume died during the birth. Most of our medical ninjas were either in the field helping the injured or injured themselves. Only the Fourth Hokage, Arashi Hotaru was present. The Fourth was also Naruto's father."

Itachi's eyes widened.

"The Fourth knew that the only way to stop the demon was to contain it, and so he sealed it into his own son's body, sacrificing himself to power the seal. His last wish was that his son be treated as a hero – for, by sacrificing a normal life and losing his family he saved the village. As you are well aware, the village did not uphold the Fourth's wish."

The boy nodded.

"Six days ago a Wizard for the outside world visited our village and found Naruto beaten and unconscious in an alleyway. He rescued him from our tender care and another Wizard has adopted him as his own son – with full knowledge that the Kyubi is contained within him. The Wizarding World hold the Jinchuuriki in high regard and I believe that this Lord Snape will care for Naruto as he deserves."

"This is Mister Hayworth and Mister Tucker, they are also Wizards. They will be escorting you to the home of Naruto and his new father. You will be the boy's personal Jounin instructor and protector, much like Ebisu who has been assigned to my own grandson Kohohamaru – without the diaper changing of course. Sauske will accompany you to further his own training in a more positive atmosphere and provide a peer for Naruto to train with. There is no timetable associated with this mission and it will likely last several years at least. You will be living in the outside world and it is unlike anything you have experienced before. This is an A-rank mission and optional because of the possible length of the assignment. You will receive you regular monthly pay as an Anbu Captain along with a stipend for living expenses. Sauske will earn three-quarters of a genin's usual pay until he can be assessed by another Jounin. You will just have to send me word when you feel he's ready to be tested."

"Now, do you accept?"

Sauske looked frightened by Itachi did not even hesitate, "Yes Hokage-sama." A smile tickled the corners of the normally stoic boy's mouth.

Saurotbi nodded, "Now I need an oath, a blood oath from both of you." He unrolled a scroll with a collection of blood red signatures; time had not dulled them to brown as it normally should have. "In this bag is the sum of both the Uzumaki and Arashi clans history, jutsu, and special techniques."

"You will learn these things and teach them to Naruto but you must swear to never reveal your knowledge to any other. The knowledge belongs only to him; you are not even to use these techniques in battle unless it is in the direct defense of Naruto's life – am I understood?"

Both boys nodded.

"Sign."

Itachi efficiently nicked his own finger with a kunai and signed his name. The characters glowed a bright orange for a moment before returning to normal.

Tugging his young brother forward he again wielded the odd shaped throwing knife and a reluctant Sauske signed as well.

The instant the orange glow faded from the younger Uchiha's name the scroll snapped shut of its own accord, the cords of the leather cover tying themselves closed.

The Hokage handed the bag of scrolls over to Itachi, using it as an excuse to get closer to the teen and whisper in his ear, "These old eyes hope to see you in the Leaf Village again some day, but if it is not to be then I pray you find the peace out there that you seek – for both of you."

Itachi had frozen when the Hokage had invaded his personal space, no doubt fighting the Shinobi instincts to attack but the whispered words seemed to relax him in a way Sarutobi had never seen before.

"Lord Hokage, I would ask what happened to my father in the Council meeting," he murmured softly so his younger brother could not hear.

"He brought shame upon the village and has been stripped of all his titles – he is a civilian now."

Itachi's grin was pure evil, "Then it is truly a great day Hokage-sama."

Saurtobi grinned.

Hayworth pulled a circle of red rope from his pocket, "If you gentlemen will take hold of this, you will need to hold on tightly. This method of travel is not the most pleasant but it is the fastest for groups. I thank you for your hospitality Lord Hokage and I apologize again for the unpleasantness earlier."

"Think nothing of it Mister Hayworth, although I would ask Itachi to send me an occasional progress report on the younger boys…" he let the request taper off.

"As long as Lord Snape agrees, I see no problem Sir."

"Thank you – be safe."

After making sure once again that everyone had a firm grip, the group disappeared with a soft pop.

"Be safe," he whispered again.


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: I know, I know - I suck! I've had this written for about a month now. I just couldn't motivate myself to type it up for some reason. I have no excuse. Hope you like it though! The response to this story has been awesome and is thoroughly impressing the heck out of me. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 12**

_Ruri age 7_

Gaara entered his father's office without knocking the next morning, well aware that Yashamaru would be giving his report on last night's happenings. The sand contained in the giant gourd strapped to his back shifted, creating an eerie hissing noise. It was the only outward expression of his displeasure – but a telling one.

He was only slightly interested in Baki's presence in the room, although he supposed it made sense; the scarred Jounin was his brother and sister's personal instructor.

The three men inside were silent as he entered – no doubt they had heard someone approaching. The two guards outside the door would probably be punished for not stopping him – of course, by not stopping him they got to live to be punished.

Gaara thought that was fair.

"I was not aware you had requested a meeting this morning Gaara."

"I didn't Father, I merely wished to hear _Uncle's_ report first hand." His voice was bland.

"Report? Yashamaru has been retired for nearly six years. What could he possibly be reporting on?"

Gaara almost flinched at the loud snarl that filled his ears and was almost surprised that the others hadn't heard it. They did hear the cork sealing his gourd closed pop and sand began falling to the floor in a gentle stream.

Baki had the sense to look nervous.

Yashamaru was kneeling, facing the Kazekage so that the red head couldn't see his expression, but he did see his back tense.

"I am not stupid Father." He moved further into the room until he was a mere arms reach from Yashamaru. The growing mound of sand followed him every step of the way. "Continue your report Uncle."

Yashmaru looked up at the Kazekage but said nothing and after a few more minutes of silence Gaara grew bored. The sand at his feet solidified and lifted itself, almost like a snake or a rope. Slowly it coiled around Yashamaru's neck. Gaara could hear the man's breathing accelerate and could see the sweat forming on his brow. When the silence continued the sand began to squeeze…

"Garra," his father snapped, "you overstep your bounds!"

"No Father," he slowly turned his face away from his gasping uncle to face the Kazekage, "Yashamaru has. Yashamaru has threatened that which is not his – threatened what is mine." The sand relaxed its grip just slightly and Gaara let the blond catch his breath before continuing, but the Kazekage interrupted.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ruri. Yashamaru threatened Ruri yesterday and it not the first time. Ruri is mine. You said it yourself Yashamaru, on the day you gave him to me."

The Leader of Sand stood, hands braced on his desk, "Gaara! You will release your Uncle and return to your rooms. This outrageous behavior will be punished! I can't believe you would attack the man who has cared for you all these years on the word of a slave!"

The gourd on Gaara's back exploded and a cloud of sand filled the room. Yashamaru was hurled into a wall and was pinned there by the sand, as was Baki beside him.

The red head felt his arm muscles spasm. Looking down he found the limbs growing, distorting… forming claws – Tanuki claws.

Fangs burst from his gums and he grinned at the wide-eyed Kazekage.

Gaara's voice was still the same monotone he always spoke in when he said, "I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation Father." The boy was behind the desk and beside the other man in less than a blink. A large clawed hand wrapped around his neck and slammed the Shinobi onto the desk.

"I am content to be your little guinea pig, to follow your orders and bring the fame you so desperately seek to the village, but _only_ so long as Ruri is happy and healthy here. Do _you_ understand?"

The Kazekage's eyes had narrowed but he nodded.

Gaara growled and using the neck in his hand he slammed the man's head into the desk again.

"Do not think to manipulate me human," Gaara's voice was unnaturally deep, a growling rumble that was in no way 'normal'. "If you kill him, scare him – if he so much as skins his knee, I will gut you little man and I will destroy this entire village before your dying eyes." He dug the six inch claws on his other hand into the Kagekage's belly. "Your continued existence is tied to Ruri's. _Do you understand_?"

"I understand," he gasped.

"Good."

Gaara released the man, stepping back an allowing his arms to return to normal.

The Kazekage stood slowly. "What of them," he asked, waving to the pinned ninja stuck to the wall.

Gaara walked to the door as Baki slid down the wall to his feet.

"Hopefully Baki has learned something useful today." His voice was monotone once again. "Yashamaru, however," there was loud crack as the sand broke the ninja's neck, "made too many mistakes."

The sand flowed across the floor and up Gaara's legs to disappear beneath his clothes as he left the room without another word.


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: OMG IT'S AN UPDATE!!! Sorry it took so long - hope you enjoy it. Be prepared... there's a time jump after this chapter!!!!_

**Chapter 13**

"Oh good, you're all ready – I trust you don't mind if we skip the formalities then. Master Malfoy if you'll give me your hand?"

A bewildered Draco did as instructed, barely able to sit on the settee where the woman had perched before she released him and jumped back to her feet.

"Excellent young Master, your Birth Prophecy is still valid – I wish you all happiness with your Dark Demon. It was good to see you all again. Good day," she called nearly out the parlor door.

"Mistress Knightscomb," Lucius cried scrambling to beat the tiny figure to the door, shock stamped on his normally stiff features.

Naturo had to stifle a giggle when the elder Malfoy made it to the door ahead of her, but only just. Lucius actually slid himself right in front of the door, nearly knocking Mistress Knightscomb to the floor.

"Mistress, whatever has upset you so," Lucius asked, obviously winded.

"Come, come Lucius. I must be going. Nasty business at the Department of Mysteries, I've been practically mobbed with requests!"

"Now Mistress, you came here to read for young Master Snape, we must get him set upon the right path."

She blinked up at him again confused, "Snape?" She blinked again before shaking her head and whipping out a wand. With a swish and a flick she summoned a clipboard and the smallest pair of glasses Naruto had ever seen, they fit on her face but the lenses were smaller than his pinky finger print.

She traced down the clipboard with the tip of her wand before reading out loud, "Naruto Snape, 11:45 A.M., late birth reading, adoption, Shinobi. Oh my!"

Another flick and the items vanished once again, 'My sincerest apologies Lord Malfoy, Master Snape. This business has put me in an unfit state. I have never in all my years made such a mistake. Please forgive an infirm old woman."

"There is nothing to forgive Mistress, now what is this business that has you so upset?" Lucius motioned for her to return to the settee but did not take her arm. The older man had made sure that Naruto knew not to touch the woman for any reason without her express permission. As she was a Seer, doing so was taboo and could easily get you arrested.

"Nasty, nasty business. Fully half of the prophecy orbs in the Birth Vault shattered yesterday – half! Then ten in the Long Term Vault and three of the ancient orbs! Of course everyone who was affected has been contacted by owl and every single one of them is demanding new readings. Then too are the requests from folks to get re-read to see if they have a prophecy now, when they didn't before. It's all ridiculously inconvenient – exciting, but inconvenient."

"I can only imagine Mistress," Lucius murmured, looking a bit pale as the seer sat on the settee once again and he took his own chair.

"Now, Master Snape, let's see what we can see, shall we?"

Naruto nodded and then motioned to his house elf Tidley to push his wheelchair over to the woman – he wasn't allowed to push it himself for another week at least. It got on his nerves but as his new father had said, he'd only end up in bed longer if he hurt himself again by ignoring his restrictions.

"I've never read for a Shinobi before, this will be a unique experience."

Naruto held out his hand, biting his tongue to hold back all the questions he had. His father had been very specific on how he was to act around the Seer and he was so afraid of offending her and disappointing Severus that he thought it best just to shut up.

The woman's eyes twinkled at him as she took his hand in her own, as if she knew what he was thinking, and maybe she did. Then her eyes went wide, focused somewhere high above his head.

"Demon," she whispered.

Naruto flinched, he couldn't help it. People had called him that all of his life – he _hated_ that word.

A hand settled on his shoulder and Naruto found his father looking down at him, a strange expression on his face. He wasn't sure what that expression meant, but it made him feel better anyway and he turned back to the seer.

"So many images," the Seer wheezed her breathing short and rapid. "I've never seen anything like it. The Great Fox fighting the Lord of Serpents. There will be many battles, many foes, but in the end it will be the Fox and the Serpent. War… and a burning love. Much pain, but always hope."

She released his hand, slumping back against the back of the settee, hand over her heaving chest.

"My," she gasped, blinking rapidly at the room around her as if to bring it back into focus. "My, my. I do believe I am to old for such wild experiences... But my, what a rush."

Naruto giggled at the elderly woman and she grinned right back before reaching for the glass of ice water a house elf had just presented to her.

"Well it's not a prophecy like we Wizards are accustomed to, I doubt there will even be a sphere – "

She cut off as a small ball of orange gas appeared between Naruto and her and, after a moment, solidified into an opaque orange glass sphere, a bit smaller than her head.

"Well, show's what I know, doesn't it?" Mistress Knightscomb smiled at him, "This, Master Snape is your prophecy orb. It will how you everything that was revealed to me. Would you care to see?"

Eagerly he nodded.

"Very well, place your hand on top of the sphere." She held the ball out to him and gingerly he rested his palm on it. At first nothing happened and he thought he'd done something wrong when the first images starting shooting before his eyes.

It was as the Seer had said, a fox and a snake wearing a black crown fought constantly, the scenery changing in bright flashes of light while other smaller serpents, rats and ravens flitted through the background. Behind it all stood a fan of orange, blue, and white with a silvery fox on it. Flames surrounded it but when he concentrated on it he could see that the flames didn't hurt the fan, but were perhaps coming from the fan? All around him he could hear screams and shouts, battle cries and metal clanking against metal… a war.

And then the images stopped.

Naruto blinked several times trying to rid himself of the prophecy's after image and Mistress Knightscomb gave him a reassuring smile. The orb disappeared with a small 'pop'.

"Remember my dear that prophecies are not set in stone. They are merely indications of where your current path is taking you. You can always choose a new path but, in my humble opinion, a love as great as the one you are destined for just might be worth facing all the trials that come with it."

"How do you know? I didn't see anything in there about love."

"I've been a seer a long time Master Snape and the signs are clear. You are the fox and the fox is you. Your symbol combined with that of another, surrounded in flames that do not consume – it is a very classic sign, and then too, it dwarfed all the other signs around it. It remained still and unchanging. It is a constant, passionate love that will see you through your tribulations young Master. Personally, as one who has been alone these many years, I would think long and hard before turning away from such a gift."

Silence ruled the room.

Naruto had no idea what to say to the woman, about her prediction or her admission. No one else said anything either so he supposed they felt the same.

Finally it was Mistress Knightscomb who ended the moment, jumping to her feet again and startling a squeak out of him.

"Mercy, look at me! Burdening young Lords with my maudlin advice. Forgive me Lords, forgive me. Oh! I simply must be going, I simply must. Lots to do, you know. I'll just see myself out then. Feel free to owl if you have any questions and remember your orb is stored alphabetically in the Department of Mysteries, Birth Predictions vault. Good day, My Lords!"

Naruto blinked. Her speech had gotten her from the settee to out the parlor door before anyone could do anything to stop her. A handy trick that he was sure any Shinobi would give dearly to learn – just think of the uses!

"So, love and war huh… two things every great story needs," Naruto crowed, trying to get rid of the worried expression on his father's face.

"Bah," Draco scoffed. "Fighting is so… low. Malfoy's don't fight, we win through sheer cunning. I suppose that's why the Seer only saw love in my future." Draco shined his fingernails on his shirt front, the overdone snobby look on his face making Naruto laugh.

"You're such a… a _girl_ Draco."

The smaller boy was outraged, "You take that back!"

"Nope," he replied, still laughing.

Draco stuck his tongue out, "Well, I suppose the thought of getting my own Knight in shining armor is rather appealing. Perhaps I should grow out my hair, like Rapunzel?"

Severus had read them the Muggle and Wizarding versions of the tale just last night and while he knew his friend was joking Naruto found himself angry. He didn't know why exactly, but Draco's joking acceptance at being called a girl made him so angry.

A vase shattered.

There were whispers in his head, sharp words that he didn't understand. They filled his ears, blocking out the other sounds in the room. It was like a crowd surrounding him, screaming at him but he didn't _UNDERSTAND!_

* * *

Severus watched, alarmed, as Naruto went from the laughing boy they all knew, to angry, to… to clamping his hands over his ears with an anguished cry.

"Naruto," he called, standing, but the blonde didn't react.

The boy's breathing accelerated.

"Naruto," he called again, louder.

Finally he clapped his hands together only inches from the boy's face and yelled, "Naruto!"

Blue eyes snapped open as the shinobi froze completely; even his breathing had stopped as he stared up at his father.

Severus knelt before the boy, tugging small hands from his son's ears and into his own potion stained fingers.

"Breathe Naruto, breathe," he murmured, smoothing sweat soaked blonde spikes away from the boy's pale face with one hand.

After a few minutes of silence where Naruto was able to breathe normally and the empty look in his eyes began to fade, Severus spoke, "What happened, my son."

Naruto blinked, straightening in his chair but not pulling away. "I – I don't know Father… there were all these voices in my head, yelling, can I couldn't understand what they were saying. They were so angry and… and I was so angry… I… I…"

"Shhh. It's alright. Remember when I looked into your mind and saw your life at the village?"

Naruto nodded, bottom lip clamped firmly between his teeth.

"And do you remember how I said there were things in your mind that you had forgotten, things that you probably remember now that I had seen them?"

A nod.

"This was probably one of those things. We knew that most of them would be bad things, that's why you had forgotten them, right?"

Another nod.

"Do you know what made you angry?"

Naruto thought about it, "I – I think it was because Draco didn't get mad when I called him a girl… but that doesn't really make sense, does it?"

Severus frowned and could see similar expressions on Lucius and Draco's faces as well.

"Do you know why that made you angry?"

"No Father," the injured boy whispered.

Severs caressed his son's too pale cheek, "Do not worry about it, my son. These episodes are going to happen and we may never understand the why of it. The mind is a great wilderness, even to those of us who have been exploring it for years. I want you to come to me when it happens again, and it will happen again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father."

"No matter the time or the place; if I am not here then you will have Lucius call me, understood?"

Naruto beamed at him, arms flung wide for a hug that Severus gladly gave, "I understand Father, thank you."

The Potions Master stood once his son saw fit to release him and politely ignored the indulgent look on the elder Malfoy's face.

"Come Naruto, your Shinobi instructors are due to arrive any time now. Let's go see if they'll actually be staying, hmmm?"

Tidley began pushing the blonde's wheelchair from the parlor to the floo room with Severus pacing alongside.

"Would you really make them leave?"

"Of course. If they are foolish or treat you poorly I won't hesitate to hex them back to that damnable village of theirs. That's not to say that you are to misbehave to get them into trouble." Severus quirked a forbidding eyebrow at his grinning son.

"Of course not Father, would I do that?"

"Of course not," Severus murmured, rolling his eyes. "How could I have ever thought such a thing?"


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Wow! It's been over a year! This plot ferret just went awol... Thanks to all you who were still waiting, if not patiently, and believed when I said "I don't abandon fics." I don't - just sometimes they run away and lock themselves in their rooms so that I can't get to them. Update for Pet is written - just needs typed and posted. Update for Double Trouble is half done and I'm still kicking around ideas for the next chapter of The One Who Sees Atlantis. Bare with me... hopefully this update was worth waiting for!_

**Chapter 14**

_**Time Jump**_

_Ruri/Harry age 10_

_Gaara age 10 ½_

Something had woken the boy and for the life of him he could not figure out what. Their moonlit room was silent and still. While the slats on the shutters were open, allowing ventilation, the shutters themselves were closed and reinforced with his own strange chakra; and when Ruri sealed a door, it stayed sealed. Not even Gaara could pass through if Ruri didn't want him to.

The blankets moved and then Ruri heard it, a small voice… like a hiss.

"Not to worry little Master… stupid Shinobi… I'm here now."

Ruri had a hard time making out the words as the voice was so tiny.

"Hello?"

If he had suspected a person in the room with him and Gaara he would never have given himself away by speaking but the voice was obviously not from a person and they had had a few minor demons approach Shukaku in the past few years. It was always much less trouble to deal with them as quickly as possible and send them on their way, otherwise things tended to get messy.

He felt Gaara tense beside him, coming awake at Ruri's hale and the smaller boy rested a hand on the red head's shoulder – nothing to kill, yet.

"Hello," he called again.

"Greetings," the voice called back.

Finally the creature reached the top of the blankets pooled around Ruri's hips and he was able to see a tiny, creamy green snake.

Gaara had started to sit up as well only to freeze when he saw the serpent.

"What are you doing in our bed Lord Snake," Ruri asked.

It laughed, or rather gave a series of hisses that sounded like laughter to Ruri, "I am no Lord, young Master, but I thank you for the honor. A stupid Shinobi sent me to kill you young Master, but I will not be doing that, no, no."

"What is it saying," Gaara asked.

Ruri blinked. He hadn't realized the snake wasn't speaking Japanese – every demon they had met before spoke Japanese. It couldn't be English ether as Gaara was nearly fluent in that as well.

Just to make sure though, "You can't understand what either of us is saying?"

Gaara didn't move and didn't take his eyes off the little snake, "No. It just sounds like hissing to me."

"Of course it does," the snake said in perfect Japanese. "it is the snake language after all."

"You speak Japanese," Ruri exclaimed, shocked for some reason.

"Of course I do! I may be a minor demon but I'm not stupid," the snake was clearly annoyed.

"Of course you're not," Ruri quickly agreed. "I don't know why it surprised me. I meant no insult Lord Snake."

It laughed again, "Oh I like you young Master, so polite! Not at all like that stupid Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru," Gaara asked.

"He is the one who summoned me to kill young Master."

The red head had been so still before but Ruri felt him tense, felt Shukaku stir to life inside the other boy.

"You were sent to kill Ruri?"

"Yes, but I won't be doing that. Orochimaru's contract does not cover true snake Masters. Not even Lord Manda himself would hurt you young Master… I will need to tell him of you. You could free him of that nasty Orochimaru if it suited you young Master."

"Why does Orochimaru want Ruri dead," Gaara growled, completely ignoring everything else the serpent said.

"The Kazekage hired him. He knew Orochimaru had a contract with the snakes and he thought that if young Master were to die from a snake bite then it would look like an accident and no one could blame him for it."

"Did he now."

All the sand in the room was floating; a living curtain of sand and Gaara's teal eyes had turned black with a red diamond center.

Ruri sucked in a breath… and got an idea.

"Gaara."

The red head turned to him.

"You will let me handle this, alright?"

Gaara didn't acknowledge what he said, just curled back a lip and exposed a single fang.

"Gaara! You will let me handle this. We know the Kazekage is scared of you; otherwise he wouldn't have gone to an outsider for this. It is time now for the Kazekage to fear me."

A nearly imperceptible grin tilted the corner of the red head's mouth. "Very well, my little emerald, remind my father of this place."

* * *

Ruri, Gaara and the snake Oki had talked and planned the night away and both boys had learned a lot more about demon kind than they had ever dreamed possible.

Shukaku had not even been privy to many of the workings of demon society being a solitary creature himself, and being imprisoned for most of its recent history.

It seemed the snake demons were divided into several clans, each lead by a clan head – a large an exceptionally powerful demon – and these clan heads were answerable only to the Great Serpent, the progenitor of their kind, or a declaration by a majority of the clan heads themselves. Such a declaration had been made only once, on serpent clan head Manda, the leaders of Oki's clan.

Apparently a millennia ago, demons would voluntarily merge with their essence with that of a powerful human which lead to the production of powerful long-lived children. The descendents of these unions had specialized powers associated to their demon progenitors and these powers later became known as a kekkei genkai, or blood line limit; powerful jutsu's that only members of that family were capable of performing.

Just as the demons display colorful marking in their natural forms, so did the children of their unions. Even today, their heritage is still marked on their skin, even if they've lost the ability to wield their kekkei genkai due to the weakening of their demonic blood.

Orochimaru was the descendant of such a union, as could be seen from the purple stripes under his eyes, but it was his family's merger that led to the snake clan's declaration and Manda's punishment.

Manda had agreed to merge with an Ancestor of Orochimaru's but when the time came he pushed a lesser demon onto the merger seal. This violated the pact Lord Manda had made and as punishment, Manda and his clan were forced into the servitude of Orochimaru's family until such time as the great serpent rescinded the Declaration.

Having the ability to speak the snake language made Ruri an obvious descendant of the Great Serpent and as such he could rescind the Declaration.

Ruri had argued that he had no demon markings and Oki had come right back with the fact that Demon Lords were a law unto themselves. They could take human shape and breed directly with humans and the little snake wasn't sure if that would leave marks on the child or not. A Demon Lord was also capable of hiding their nature and who was to say their children couldn't as well? Maybe even unconsciously.

Ruri couldn't really refute that.

* * *

Ruri found his would be assassin on their roof impatiently waiting for Oki's return. The snake nin was pacing back and forth and cursing sibilantly under his breath.

"So," Ruri said, making the ninja freeze, "the Kazekage hired you to kill me."

Slowly Orochimaru turned and faced him, pale skin glowing in the predawn.

"It was to be a gesture actually, to seal our working relationship. Your Kazekage is an ambitious man."

"And a fearful one. Imagine, being so terrified of your own ten year old son that you would hire a notorious S-Class criminal to assassinate the boy's slave? Shocking really."

"But you're not dead which seems to justify the Kazekage's actions."

"A stroke of luck, a bit of chance."

"Bad luck for you, if the Jadent had killed you it would have at least been quick. Now I think a Sand Flier will have to do. It'll be slow but believable still."

The ninja made a series of hand signs and with a puff of smoke a six foot long sandy brown snake appeared hovering next to the ninja on its three foot long wings. "Kill him," Orochimaru commanded in a bored tone.

Ruri leaned back against the raised knee wall enclosing the roof and crossed his arms.

The snake moved closer, tongue tasting the air before suddenly dropping to the ground in front of Ruri.

"My apologies Master," it hissed in the snake language.

"There is nothing to forgive Lord Snake – your Master is a fool."

The serpent hissed in laughter, "Indeed, indeed."

Orochimaru's eyes had gone wide when Ruri had spoken to the snake but now his face was hard.

The snake used its wings to hop up onto the knee wall so that it could rest its head on Ruri's shoulders.

The assassin made a banishing seal… and nothing happened.

"If there are any more snakes you'd like to free from your contract, feel free to go ahead and summon them."

"What are you?"

"Apparently I'm a descendant of the Great Serpent, which means my word overrides your contract with the snakes."

"I'll just have to kill you myself then."

"That will immediately break your contract."

Orochimaru froze.

"Let's be clear Orochimaru – I am not interested in you or your deal with the snakes. But if you make this my concern then I will deal with it and I can guarantee that you will not like the results. If you kill me, or if anyone doing your will either implied or explicitly, kills me then your contract is over. If I but simply will it, your contract is over. Again I say I am not interested in you or your deal with the snakes. I am proposing a truce."

"Go on."

"Basically, you keep your hands to yourself and we can all play nice. You avoid any situation that would interfere with myself or Gaara and we will not knowingly interfere in your plans or abolish your contract. If you are to ally yourself, even in the short term with the Kazekage it would be in your best interest to turn his paranoid eyes away from his son. If something unfortunate were to happen then I would need the snakes to exact my revenge and that would not help your cause. Do you understand?"

"I cannot be held accountable for your safety."

"No, of course not, but it would behoove you to send word if you discovered plans that could be detrimental to our continued good health."

"You ask much for so little return."

"You think your contract with the snakes to be a small thing? I am merely asking to be left alone with my chosen master and an occasional word of warning should a situation arise that would affect all three of us. In return you get to keep your contract with the snakes, which by rights I could and probably should break to cement my own position here in Suna, and we could send word to you if we come across information that could benefit your fledgling village."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed and Ruri sighed.

"I'm not going to go tattle on you. I don't care what you do or who you do it to as long as you leave myself, Gaara and his siblings out of it."

"And now the Kazekage's other spawn are a part of this deal, hmm?"

"Well if you kill one you risk making an enemy of the surviving two. One of them will most likely be Kazekage one day so it only makes sense to insulate them a bit – consider it hedging your bets. What good would it do you to kill them? The Kazekage has no use for his children other than what they might gain him as adult shinobi so threatening them gains you no leverage. Gaara on the other hand is undecided in his feelings towards his siblings. Killing one of them before he has come to some sort of decision would only leave him conflicted and confused… which would only enrage the demon within him, which in turn would lead to further unpleasantness."

"You are a very astute child."

Ruri bowed slightly, "I live to serve and my Master prefers things calm around himself. It is my job to provide that and I will do so, whatever it takes."

"An admirable thing, this loyalty of yours."

The boy gave a small half smile, "Do we have a deal Orochimaru?"

"Deal."

Ruri clapped his hands and there was a sound like a low gong. "Deal," he repeated. "Now I would ask you to summon fourteen more of the Jadents, I believe you called them."

Orochimaru quirked an eyebrow, "For what reason?"

"The Kazekage wishes me dead just to hurt Gaara – to prove he still exerts some control over his son. The Jadents are going to help me send a subtle message that I am powerful in my own right and that together we are more trouble than its worth to play petty games with."

"I do not believe subtlety will work with your Kage."

"You are most likely right, but I prefer to start small and go from there. If I need to burn the Village down around his ears for him to get the message than I will… eventually."

Orochimaru gave a sibilant laugh, "I think I might like you little girl-man. Perhaps one day I might taste some of that loyalty you lavish on your demon vessel."

"All things are possible under Heaven Lord Orochimaru."

The shinobi made more hand signs and the rooftop filled with puffs of smoke. Thirteen small, jade green serpents appeared and one larger milky red one.

Oki, who had transformed himself into what looked to be a carved jade bangle, came to life on Ruri's wrist. "My Queen," the little snake hissed laying flat on the back of Ruri's hand.

"Oki," the female hissed back, "I am glad to see you. I worried you were destroyed when you did not return."

"No my Queen, I have entered the service of a true Master."

"Truly?" The female snake looked Ruri up and down, "Is it a male or female."

Ruri laughed, "I am male my Queen, though I disguise myself as female. Humans think of females as weaker than males so I hide like this to better protect my Lord Gaara."

She tilted her head to the side, "Humans are silly things, are they not? Everyone knows that the female is the more dangerous creature."

Ruri bowed, "I totally agree my Queen; which is why your presence here is such an honor to me. Will you stay in my service or return to Lord Orochimaru?"

* * *

Orochimaru watched the hissed conversation with no little envy… and arousal. There was no doubt that the boy was beautiful but the snake nin had seen many beautiful boys. No, this boy drew him on a completely different level. He was powerful, smart and apparently very loyal.

The most wanted missing ninja from the Village hidden in the Leaves found himself torn.

He required living hosts to transfer his spirit into every so many years, for his own brand of immortality, but they had to be powerful to survive the process.

Ruri was an ideal candidate but Orochimaru was impressed by the boy's nerve. Facing an S Class criminal as he had all for the sake of his Master… the ninja craved loyalty like that. A companion whose sole purpose in life was to see to Orochimaru's every need.

He wanted that.

He wanted that very badly.

The red Jadent slithered up the boy's outstretched hand to circle his neck where she froze and became a thin band of red jade around his throat – like a collar.

Orochimaru hardened instantly at the thought.

The other snakes became bangles climbing half way up each forearm.

The shinobi's lips parted at the sight, his forked tongue teasing their edges. Such beauty and power, wearing the chains of instant death at wrist and throat… the boy was a vision of danger… a god of death made flesh. To touch him was to die… either by poison or pleasure…

He was going to keep close eyes on this one. Perhaps he should begin researching using a Jinchūriki as a vessel for his own spirit. The demonic energy could be used to power the jutsu…

Hmmm…


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

_Interlude_

"Jiraiya! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Sarutobi, my friend."

"What brings you back to the village? I don't believe the ladies here have you forgiven you enough to help you with your research."

The Toad Sage had the decency to blush, hand rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Well ya see… it's like this…" he hesitated, at a loss for words then stepped quickly to the left revealing two willowy boys.

The pair were as night and day, both were beautiful, but where one was light, one was dark – one tall, the other short.

"This is Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan."

The Hokage's eyes widened at that.

"And Haku of the Water Clan. I came across them not long after Naruto disappeared and…"

"I understand old friend."

"I've brought them back to study for the Chunin exam when it's our turn to host again. I don't feel comfortable taking them into another village for the testing. Growing boys need some stability… a better foundation than I can give them on the road."

"The Academy then?"

Jiraiya nodded.

Haku steeped forward, taking the man's hand in both of his own pale ones. "You're… you're not going to leave us are you Master? You'll stay with us. You have to stay."

The Sage hesitated, then nodded.

Sarutobi smiled, "Excellent! It will do these old bones good to have you back with us Jiraiya – you and your sons."

He cringed, "Now you're make me feel old, Old Man. Don't you know I'm much to young to have children this age?" He turned slightly and spotted the mask-like expressions on the two boys. "Well… I supposed I did start my adventures at an exceptionally young age… Kimi even has my hair… and Haku obviously takes after my mother…"

"Obviously," Sarutobi muttered. "Well let's introduce the boys around the Academy while I send someone to open your old house for you."

"Great idea!"

The Hokage rolled his eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: OMG! It's an update! Thanks for all your reviews - and thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking with me!_

Chapter 16

Gaara had sealed his rooms two days ago, an impenetrable wall of sand covering every entrance. One person had been allowed to enter – Hikaru.

The Kazekage smirked beneath his veil. It made sense. The Kunoichi was the only other person Ruri associated with and she was well versed in poisons and basic medical aid. This actually aided the Kage's cause. She would recognize the snake bite and Gaara would have no reason to doubt her.

He would have to reward Oorochimaru for acting so quickly.

The Lord to his left laughed loudly and the Kazekage grimaced. He hated these meetings. Twice a year the other Lords insisted on an informal meeting-of-the-minds at the Oasis Tea House where they indulged in too much wine and the prostitute serving girls.

He came, drank a bit, made his Lords think he shared their base pursuits but these little forays only gave him ammunition against the others. Really he couldn't see why they persisted in doing this – it only bit them in the back later.

Glancing over the crowded house he saw three Elder Oiran emerge from the back and move to a raised platform directly across from the main stage. They knelt around a table and stared intently at the stage.

Perhaps tonight would not be a total waste after all; it seemed a new Oiran would be performing her graduation dance.

The Kazekage lightly licked his lips beneath his veil. While it was true he didn't care for most women, he appreciated an Oiran – a woman trained to please and to do so with a quiet gentility… not like these painted up whore-serving girls who would service any man with enough money.

The music started, a slow deep rhythm punctuated by the beat of a pair of wooden sticks.

The curtain parted and the patrons closest to the stage jumped to their feet, backing away in fear as a large reptilian head emerged. It was the biggest snake he'd ever seen – the head bigger than a large man.

The Kazekage's narrowed gaze swept the crowd but he did not see Oorochimaru anywhere.

The snake stood, taller than two men together, head swaying back and forth. Its hood snapped open and more of the crowd jumped away. The only thing keeping the crowd from panicking was the musicians - still playing and looking unfazed by it all.

The snake's head dipped low, until its nose nearly touched the stage, and its mouth opened. Slowly the head lifted revealing, by inches at a time, a heavily cloth draped figured.

From the corner of his eye the Kazekage saw the Oiran judges exchange a few words. This then was the girl hoping to graduate… well she knew how to make an entrance.

The figure undulated to the music – the cocoon of fabric slowly falling away while the giant cobra watched intently.

Finally the last of the silvery fabric dropped away to reveal a dainty pale figure clad in wispy green silk and moving to the music. Long black tresses hung to her knees, swaying in counterpoint to her slim hips. She had her back to the crowd as she danced, heavy jade bangles clinking above the music as her arms slithered through the air. Her back was a bare milky expanse of skin, three strands of beads the only indication she wasn't topless.

Suddenly she turned, slit skirt billowing out around her and exposing a tantalizing glimpse of pale leg. The Kazekage saw she was veiled, a short piece of emerald silk with a scattering of silver beads for weight.

Her top was long, modest really – not the trashy breast cups that most dancers wore. It both covered and highlighted the girl's lack of breasts of any size. That suited the Kage just fine; breasts were nice but often they just got in the way. The fabric ruched in the middle slightly, forming a frame for her belly button and the emerald held there, winking at the crowd when she canted her hips just so.

She was stunning.

And her dance… the Kage had seen many Oiran dances, from beginners to true masters of the art – it was a benefit of hosting one of only two training facilities on the Hidden Continent – but never had he seen a dance such as this.

In parts it was very traditional, with the swaying arms and hip shimmies, but in others… she was a contortionist and acrobat both, the moves executed flawlessly within the dance so that even when she held a certain impossible pose she was still moving – still dancing. Occasionally he thought he saw a Tai Jutsu move, but it was so natural and so quickly gone that he couldn't be sure.

It was exquisite.

And he had never been so aroused by a woman before – not even his late wife.

Slowly the girl stepped down from the stage, the music still playing and the snake still watching. Dancing her way through the crowd she made her way toward the Lord 's Table.

The Anbu guards let her pass at his nod and she shimmied up onto their low table. The other Lords were entranced by her, one or two even reached out to her but she deftly avoided their hands, making the moves look natural and a part of the dance as she moved ever closer to him.

Slowly she lowered herself to the surface of the table, still dancing, then slithered closer… closer… and then she was sitting before him, her feet on the floor to either side of him , her knees framing his ribs; she was practically in his lap.

The Kazekage panted, trying to bring his body back under control. He wanted to snatch her up and show her just why you didn't tease a man like this, especially not this man.

He settled for resting his hands on the table on either side of her still undulating hips, fingertips turning white as he forced the traitorous appendages to stay there. He found himself again captivated by the emerald in her belly button, now more exposed in her semi-reclined position.

Her bangled arms came up, her fingers playing along his shoulders and the bottom edge of his own veil.

"I have a message for you, oh great Kazekage," she said in a low husky-honey voice.

"Oh?" His voice cracked, which only made him more angry. He couldn't believe this slip of a girl was affecting him so.

Her hands slid under his veil, threading into the hair at the base of his neck. Sweat trickled down his back.

For some reason he noticed her bangles were carved in the shape of a serpent eating its own tail. Fitting he supposed given her entrance and her green eyes…

Green Eyes…

Green Eyes!

He stiffened and unnaturally sharp fingernails dug into his neck, preventing him from pulling back as her veil fell to the side revealing Ruri's smirking face.

"Shhh… we wouldn't want to create a panic now would we," the boy murmured as he continued to shimmy and write before him on the table.

A boy! A boy had him losing control of his own body. He had let this slave get close enough to kill him should he choose.

In his peripheral vision the Kazekage could see the leering and laughing faces of his clueless Lords. Not a one of them realized the danger – worthless excuses for Shinobi.

"What is your message, _slave_?"

"Now, now, let's be civil about this. I'm just here to remind you of Gaara's ultimatum, my Lord. You leave us alone and Gaara will continue to be a good little ninja."

"I understand."

"I really don't think you do," Ruri hissed as he sat up straight, nearly rubbing the Kazekage's face with his nonexistent cleavage. Turning his lips to the other man's ear he hissed in Japanese, "Let me add another dimension to this scenario for you." Ruri rested his forehead against the Kage's green eyes staring into angry black.

"Gaara may crush this village back into the sand but," the boy raised a hand and the Kazekage watched all the bangles morph into real snakes… Jadent Vipers, "I don't have to." The snakes turned back into bangles in a blink and the man shivered.

"And your little pet snake handler can't stop me. Do I make myself clear? Every man, woman and child in this village… in a matter of minutes…"

Ruri ripped off the Kage's veil and kissed him – a big and showy affair as the music crashed to its climactic end. The crowd cheered as Ruri flipped back across the room and back to the stage where he made his/her bow, his illusion of womanhood cemented in the minds of the villagers and the reality of him as a threat in the mind of the Kazegake.


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: This is kind of a rambly chapter but I guess it gets the job done… it's to help with the time transition… bleh… anyway, here it is._

**Chapter 17**

_Time Jump_

_The boys are 11-11 ½_

_Itachi is 16_

It was official.

Severus Snape's son was a Gryffindor.

A Gryffindor!

He'd never hear the end of this from the rest of the staff.

A Gryffindor.

He shouldn't be surprised really. He'd seen all the signs and willfully disregarded them. Oh sure Naruto had a Slytherin streak as wide as the Thames but it was tempered by his heart.

His own little lion.

Severus sighed as he watched the boy bouncing around the Weasley Twins while the sorting continued. That friendship, while not one of Severus' favorites was a boon now that the blonde would be housed in Gryffindor tower. Any resentment the other Lion's might feel toward their Potion Professor's son would be tempered by the inevitable retribution the twins would rain down upon any would-be offender.

Naruto had enjoyed free reign in Hogwarts for the last four years as the son of a Professor but this year Albus had put his foot down and proclaimed that the boy would join his peers in their non-wand requiring classes. The odd scheduling had him with the Gryffs and Slyths for Potions, History of Magic, and Care of Magical Creatures followed by Runes, Herbology, and Muggle Studies with the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The rest of his day was to be spent on Ninja training.

The Uchiha brothers had barely escaped being sorted as well; Severus was rather impressed by their fortitude against the Dumbledore Sparkle-Stare™ - a look that Naruto swore was some sort of Jutsu. Itachi was not swayed however and had just stood in the Headmasters office stone-faced, occasionally uttering an emphatic 'No' until the old man had finally given up.

Snape had tried to warn the Headmaster that Itachi as a legal adult and as a resident private instructor did not fall under the Headmaster's control as long as the Jounin adhered to the school's code of conduct, but he hadn't listened and Snape feared the man had severely damaged his credibility with the ninja by trying to force the issue.

Severus doubted if Dumbledore was capable of seeing past Itachi's age – especially after their confrontation over whether or not Sauske would be sorted. While Itachi had been stoic about the Headmaster's demands upon himself, he was positively enraged by the man's same insistence about his brother. Well, enraged for an Uchiha, which was not showy but nevertheless had been chilling to behold – especially when those red pinwheels had started spinning in the young man's eyes.

Albus had finally gotten a clue.

The Potions Master had agreed fully with Itachi's reasoning. Sauske was not a wizarding child and therefore should not impact the House Cup with any mistakes he should make by being a foreign shinobi child. Also, while Sauske would join Naruto in most of his Hogwart's classes Itachi wanted the freedom to pull him out of those classes whenever he so chose. In short Itachi felt that by allowing the sorting and having Sauske room elsewhere it would introduce too many other authority figures into the picture that the boy would feel honor bound to obey – it would pollute the boy's training. Sauske was answerable only to Itachi and Itachi was answerable only to Severus and the Hokage – and that was the way the elder Uchiha wanted to keep it.

The sound defeat of the Headmaster's machinations might have put more pressure on Severus to allow Naruto's sorting – if the duo hadn't discussed it prior to the start of the school year. Naruto would forever be a child of both worlds and while he didn't use a wand he would still need the friendships that would be built by his sorting and working with his housemate's toward the House Cup promoted community awareness and teamwork.

It would also help to bolster Naruto's confidence and independence. For all the boy's bravado and power… he was rather clingy. Personally he didn't mind it – he enjoyed being needed by his son and given the boy's background it wasn't a surprising development. In fact it was a rather minor side effect of a massive amount of abuse; but Itachi had reminded him that it was an unacceptable trait in a ninja – and in an adult, which Naruto was as of Jaraiya's brief visit a month ago.

The Toad Sage had been with them for a matter of hours – running Sasuke and Naruto both through their Academy graduation tests in a whirlwind, fretting the whole time that his own sons would break the seals on his study before he made it back to the Hidden Continent. He quickly pronounced the boys Genin and disappeared. It was only later that Severus was informed by Itachi just what Jaraiya's side job was.

But the Sanin's infamy aside, Naruto was considered an adult in the eyes of Shinobi law – which made him an adult in Wizarding eyes, truth be told, but with the adoption the law was a little muddy. The pair had discussed the issue at length and they had decided to just go with the flow. Severus had never made any decision for Naruto without his input before and this is how they would continue.

…

A Gryffindor!

Draco had, of course, been sorted to Slytherin; the sorting hat barely touching the Malfoy heir's head before making the pronouncement. Severus could tell that the blond was rather put out that his best friend was in another house and he hoped that pressures from their respective houses didn't strain the boy's relationship… of course, knowing his son as he did, he doubted that would happen. Naruto was very devoted to his 'special people', he'd even declared to Severus one day that it was his 'ninja way'.

Severus suspected that even if Draco did start to lose his way in the darkened dungeons, Naruto would have no problem dragging him back to the light. The dour man smiled, just a slight uptick of the lip; Naruto was his own guiding light now and he thanked Merlin every day for the events that had brought them together.

Watching the two blondes he noticed them both glance occasionally to a spot near the ceiling and watching carefully he finally caught a glimpse through the floating candles of Itachi perched among the roof trusses watching as Dumbledore introduced Sasuke and explained Naruto's status as a Wizarding Shinobi. When the Headmaster mentioned the elder Uchiha's name Itachi appeared next to the man in a puff of smoke – much to the students' amazement – and after a moment disappeared again.

Severus thought it was very interesting that the Shinobi version of Apparation worked within Hogwarts, while the Wizarding one didn't. He had started making extensive notes on the differences between Chakra and Magic and their affects on each other. There had been studies done before, but most of those had been by Wizards visiting the Hidden Continent and nothing over an extensive timetable or with the same subjects. It was turning into a very interesting piece.

Sauske and Naruto returned to the Gryffindor table – shoving and jostling each other the whole way. The pair had a strong but amicable rivalry going on and Severus had marveled at its duration. It had started the moment the boy's eyes had met four years ago and persisted unabated. Narcissa said it was adorable and she couldn't wait for them to be old enough to realize what their feelings meant. Severus was glad he'd never gotten excited about his Sire's Rights since grandchildren were probably out of the question.

Ah well – he just hoped Shinobi culture had no objections to such unions, he'd researched it but found no information either way. He hadn't approached Itachi on the subject yet, not feeling especially pressed on the matter, but he supposed he should; Draco was displaying an ever increasing interest in the older Ninja, although he was much more circumspect than Naruto.

Severus sighed in contentment as he watched the Hogwarts students happily enjoying the Welcome feast while catching up with or making new friends. Even the threat of the Dark Lord's return and the still missing Harry Potter could not dampen his rare mellow mood. The last four years had been the highlight of his life and this year was shaping up to be a continuation of that but he'd been through too much to take the peace he'd found for granted.

This strange little family he made for himself would travel this coming summer to the Hidden Continent for the Chunin Exams and if, when Naruto passed that milestone he would be a full fledged Shinobi; able to begin his career if he so chose. They had not discussed the options presented by the Exams, for the first time Severus found himself hesitant to speak of something with his son. He supposed he just wanted to 'live in the now' as the saying went and enjoy what time he had left with his boy before he grew up and left the father he'd only had for a handful of years behind.


End file.
